In today’s edition … Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial ad … Your World Series predictions … but first …
Can Democrats win back young voters?
Democrats desperately want to win back the young voters they lost to Republicans in 2024.
And they think the best way to do so is to reach young voters online.
That’s why you might see the Democratic National Committee picking an X fight with a Trump adviser, like in May when the Democrats’ official account replied to a Stephen Miller post by telling him to “shut up you ugly f—.”
Or “The Democrats” on YouTube promoting clips of Democratic candidates “owning” Republican opponents in midterm debates.
Or even @democrats cutting clips of President Donald Trump moving suggestively for a TikTok trend — “for a second i thought this was a random meme page and it’s THE DEMOCRATS BRO,” reads a top comment.
“We’re essentially sneaking into their ‘For You’ pages by making content that is just normal and putting a political twist on it,” said DNC Digital Rapid Response Director Jacob Horowitz.
They’ve also prioritized unbranded content, such as the FactPost X account, which the DNC launched in January 2025 “to combat online misinformation and respond to Trump administration actions by pushing out memes, videos and graphics.” The X account has since been joined by FactPost accounts on other social media sites, none of which bear obvious signs of being tied to the Democratic Party, with the hope that the content will reach users who wouldn’t ordinarily engage with Democratic accounts.
“It doesn’t have a brand that might make you suspicious. It doesn’t have a donkey on it,” said Horowitz. “And so then that post can go viral. And then creators pick it up.”
The DNC says it works with a network of over 500 content creators, who help get the Democrats’ message out in a way that feels more personal and less corporate to followers. The DNC says that creators in the program have a cumulative following of more than 75 million and that the content they’ve made with DNC clips received more than 100 million impressions from mid-2025 to mid-2026.
Party officials say their efforts will make a difference this year, and we’ll soon know if they are right. Races have tightened across the country in recent weeks, with polls showing Democratic candidates with narrow leads in key Senate races and in toss-ups with GOP House candidates in more than a dozen districts that lean red.
Younger Americans tend to be less likely to vote than older generations in general, and it can be particularly difficult to get them to show up for midterm elections. Case in point: The highest-ever turnout for the age group in midterms happened in 2018, when 32.6 percent of them voted.
Some Democrats argue that while the party would love to see that number jump, they don’t need every eligible young voter to turn out — just enough young Democratic voters that the party makes it over the top.
Alberto Medina, a spokesperson for Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, which studies youth participation in the political process, said any politician in a tight race should be thinking about how to appeal to young would-be voters.
“We have dozens of elections around the country … that are going to be decided by just a couple hundred or a couple thousand votes, one or two percentage points,” Medina said.
Republicans say they are not targeting young voters in the same way. The Republican National Committee says that everyone benefits from Trump’s presidency, so no targeted messaging is necessary. And RNC National Press Secretary Natalie Baldassarre told me that the GOP is not worried about the Democrats’ efforts to win back young voters.
“Young voters already rejected the Democrats’ failed policies that led to higher costs, more crime and less freedom — they’re not going to be won over by blue-haired interns swearing on X and Instagram,” said Baldassarre.
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From across the newsroom
- As Republicans brace for election losses, Musk prepares for war, from Faiz Siddiqui.
- Ro Khanna, eyeing White House, tries to sell capitalism to the left, from Jarrell Dillard.
- Rep. Jimmy Gomez seeks reelection under ethical cloud in California, from Alexei Koseff.
- Republican gerrymanders in Texas threaten to fall flat, poll finds, from Nancy Cook, Scott Clement and Jack Herrera.
- DOJ reviewing accusations of contracting misconduct involving Corey Lewandowski, from Jeremy Roebuck, Maria Sacchetti, Perry Stein and Brianna Sacks.
- Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it, from Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe.
What I’m watching
It may not be the perfect time to think about the Republican Party’s post-Trump future. But Vivek Ramaswamy’s shocking ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother in Ohio’s gubernatorial contest has us thinking a lot about what the GOP will look like in a few years’ time.
(Dan wrote a full piece about it here.)
Trump’s brash, often offensive style has remade the Republican Party into an organization fueled by an online ecosystem that rewards GOP candidates who “own the libs” and embody Trump’s shock-jock attitude. But this entire saga in Ohio highlights how candidates can fail when they try to embody the president’s bombast.
Ramaswamy has already failed once by trying to be Trump. He gained national prominence during the 2024 presidential campaign as a candidate who sought to mimic Trump’s brand, confronting his rivals in public and working the sidelines of social media to rile and excite supporters.
He, of course, lost. But that run led to this one, and his bet on the ad — which does not mention that Acton and her mother are estranged because, as documents show, the Democratic candidate and her brother were removed from their mother’s home as children after their stepfather was charged with raping Acton — is an extension of the persona he crafted in 2024.
There has been bipartisan backlash to the ad. Mike DeWine, Ohio’s outgoing Republican governor, on Thursday became the latest, and perhaps most significant, figure to denounce the ad, which began airing this week. But Vice President JD Vance has defended it and called those opposing it whiners, while GOP activists in Ohio have said it is firing up the base.
Shannon Burns, head of one of the state’s largest Republican organizations, said the ad has “lit a fuse under a dormant base,” and that is good politics. “If the Republican base turns out, we win,” he said.
This ad will clearly have an impact on Ohio this cycle. But the broader questions for the Republican Party are existential.
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate and possible 2028 contender, lambasted Vance’s defense of the ad, arguing that it “only breathes life into the disease that we should be seeking to cure.” And others questioned whether any Republican in 2028 would be able to win be being Trump-lite.
My favorite reflection came from a Republican operative who has been in numerous races over the last decade, and who argued that no one cares about “owning the libs” when they can’t afford basic necessities.
Putting it bluntly, the operative said: “Being an asshole only works when gas isn’t so f—ing expensive.”
In your local paper
Virginia Mercury: Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas (D) and six others were indicted on federal racketeering, marijuana distribution and money laundering conspiracy charges yesterday. Lucas, a frequent critic of Republicans, said: “I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down.”
Mountain View Voice: California towns are pulling the plugs on data centers and not waiting for state regulation.
From you
The reader consensus is that the Milwaukee Brewers are about to win the World Series.
“I believe the Brewers win because of contributions by every player on the team. Small ball and long ball beat the Dodgers and San Diego. Home field advantage is huge,” wrote Mike Kirby.
Others, like Kate Stevens, agreed.
(I agree, too, and I would love to go to a game in Milwaukee soon.)
But your thoughts on the possible upcoming baseball lockout were equally interesting.
“If there is a lockout, which I expect, baseball fans lose,” wrote John N. Diamond (a great name for a baseball fan).
“This could be a long one for labor negotiators to figure out. Both sides are locked in their positions so we might not see baseball until late April or May,” wrote John Frank. “This is going to be a media frenzy and the [losers] in the long run will be us the fans.”
Kate wrote that she would like to see more of Banana Ball — the viral, Harlem Globetrotters-esque style of baseball — be adopted.
“Speed up the game — no mound visits, no stepping out of the box. In this household, Bananaball has won the day. I will still follow the WS, but I’m looking forward to Bananaball in 2027 already,” wrote Kate.
Send a reply
We’d like to hear about readers’ first voting experiences. What sort of issues motivated you to get to the polls? Did you start voting as soon as you were eligible, or did you wait to cast your first ballot until later in life? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at [email protected].
Thanks for reading. You can follow me on X at @merica.
The post Picking fights and going viral: How Dems are targeting young voters online appeared first on Washington Post.
